Buenos Aires…and the lesson I had to learn

Some of you are wondering why I travelled to Buenos Aires so quickly, there are three reasons. Old family friends from San Francisco, Eugene and Julie, were there for a bit of a vacation and I wanted to see them. Its getting winter and I still want to get to Patagonia. I am concerned that my money won’t stretch far enough if I spend too much time in the more expensive countries (Brazil, Argentina & Chile).

This time I wasn’t very tired on arrival as I caught a “Cama” (comfort) bus. We were greeted by a friendly guy, Andreo, that offered a good deal on accommodation and would pay the taxi. I wasn’t going to run around looking for accommodation in a big city, so we took it. Once settled in, Chris and I went walking around with Or (an Israeli that sat next to me on the bus) to find him accommodation (there was a communication error and there were only 2 beds available). In doing so, we walked through a protest being held in the centre of the city.

Argentina’s political history is quite intense over the last century. In the 70’s there was a military coup that overthrew the government. Once in power, some of the youth didn’t agree with the way they were doing things and protested (if you haven’t noticed, this is a national past time for Argentineans). Being a military government, they don’t talk they act. Theses youth would just disappear. Only many years later it was found that they were dropped into the ocean. So, back to the present, this protest was to bring the people in charge of these killings to justice. Right, now you are up to speed. This seemed quite interesting (and fairly peaceful) so Chris and I went exploring the protest.

Athena was staying in another hostel, so we went looking for her. It turned out that this was party night at the hostel. Long story short, the party was huge! So big we only got back to the hostel at 8am…just in time for breakfast :) Three hours of sleep before the cleaning staff came to clean our room. So we got up.

Later that day I got together with Eugene & Julie. It was great seeing them again. I’d stayed with them in Dusseldorf, Germany about 10 years ago. Despite the time, it was like we’d seen each other yesterday. Definitely one of my Buenos Aires highlights for me! The night kind of ran away from us, so I just crashed at their place. Unfortunately this meant that I wasn’t able to say good bye to Chris, as he left the next day. Felt a bit bad about that. The up side is that I was able to spend most of the day with Eugene & Julie. We went walking around Palermo (the area where they were staying). I’d never seen a city with that amount of trees! They are everywhere. Apparently, this is known as the city of trees.

By now my body was not happy with me. My throat was getting scratchy and other symptoms (not to be mentioned) were starting to drag me down. I wasn’t going to let this stop me from having a good time, so I had dinner with Eugene & Julie again. This time close to my hostel. The next day I wanted to go to the San Telmo market, very close to my hostel (also in San Telmo, the old part of B.A.), and watch a Tango performance. This time my body won. I think everything just caught up with me, as a had flu symptoms and was stuck in bed for 2 days. Day three I was feeling better, but after a short trip to the Bolivian embassy I was paste and had to go lie down again. Day 4, I was able to go out a bit more, but was still weak. Only on the 5th day of my illness, was I able to spend a whole day outside. This stuffed up my B.A. experience a bit.

I’d lost a bit track of time and it had felt like I’d been stuck in the hostel for a couple of weeks. I hate to be sick while travelling! I was able to see Eugene & Julie before they left. I’ll see them next in San Francisco. As mentioned earlier, I was concerned that I my funds wouldn’t stretch as far as I had hoped, so I was getting restless. I wanted to head out…soon.

Due to my “don’t have a plan” – plan, I hadn’t booked the hostel in advance. So my last night in B.A. I didn’t have a bed to sleep in. Well, the plan was to catch a bus to Rosario at about midnight. I would thus have to stay awake until then. The “farewell party” theme had been thrown around a bit, so what was supposed to stop at midnight turned into “through the night” party.

I left the hostel around 6am for the bus station. The Subte (underground train) only opened at 8am, so I had to take a bus. It just seemed that everyone was doing the same. So instead of just going back to the hostel and waiting for the rush to pass, I found another bus (mistake #2. Mistake #1 was not sleeping) and headed for the bus station.

I was quite tired, so caught a quick catnap on the city bus. I awoke with a fright as we arrived at the bus station. So I wasn’t my sharpest and crossed the street. I then packed my MP3 player into my daypack (which goes on my chest) in full view of everyone (mistake #3). As I was walking, a woman pointed out that there was something on my backpack. Like an idiot I took off by daypack & backpack. In the process of “helping” me, she suddenly disappeared…and so did my daypack. But she didn’t have it. Before I knew it she, and her accomplice, were gone. O FOK! I was awake now, but too late. Found a policeman and explained my situation to him. Surprisingly, he acted like I was asking him for direction. No urgency in his actions. I’m not sure if my travel insurance covers theft (I still need to look), but I went to make a statement just in case. There the same nonchalant attitude continued. Finally a officer that looked like he had spent time in the military took my statement. At least he was efficient.

Off I went, an hour later, to the bus station minus a Cell phone, MP3 player, Camera, Leatherman and Sunglasses. Most importantly my note book was in my backpack with the contact details of the people I’d met. Fortunately I had my Passport, wallet & Credit card on me. I’m not too impressed with myself as I’ve heard this method of stealing from people many times before. Interesting what fatigue can do.

I’m now sitting in Rosario, minus most of my electronic stuff and a lot to think about. The situation keeps replaying in my head and I wonder how this could happen to me…I’m usually so observant of what is going on around me. Well while walking a mall tonight, I’m even more so.

Now my biggest hurdle to get over: its just earthly possessions, make peace with it...but most importantly (and most difficult) get some rest. I’m sure I’ll feel better once I get a proper night’s sleep.

So in case you wonder why I have no photos with this post…now you know.